


map on your skin

by BeStillMySlashyHeart



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Complicated Relationships, F/M, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:46:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24825520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeStillMySlashyHeart/pseuds/BeStillMySlashyHeart
Summary: When clearing out the last of the Project Shepherd files, they come across a map written by the aliens in Caulfield. They're not sure where it leads but that's less important than figuring out why there are three large sections of the map missing.
Relationships: Alex Manes & Liz Ortecho, Max Evans/Liz Ortecho, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 6
Kudos: 209





	map on your skin

Alex was late. The rest of the group was already settled in around Max’s living room by the time Alex finally sidled in, looking exhausted. He kept to the back of the room and nodded to Jenna to get started without bothering with pleasantries. Kyle tried to catch his eye to see if everything was okay but Alex avoided his gaze.

“Alright,” Jenna huffed, standing up. Next to her, Gregory shuffled a few large files and handed one to her. “This is what we found cleaning out the last of Jesse’s files. Mostly, it’s some nauseating research that I can promise you none of you want to look at,” Isobel and Max looked angry at the thought while Michael hunched in on himself, “but there is a decent amount of information that they managed to discern about where you guys come from and your powers and your anatomy, etcetera, etcetera…” She flipped open the folder in her hand. “And there are other bases.” Jenna whipped out a sheet that had a list of names followed by coordinates. “We’re not sure what, if anything, is still there, but there was definitely something there at one point.”

“We need to search them,” Isobel said immediately. She rose from her seat and ripped the paper from Jenna’s hand, earning herself a scowl that she promptly ignored. “There could be more people there, people like us.”

“Some of these places couldn’t hold prisoners, from what records we have they just weren’t equipped for it, but yes there are a few places that could have held other people at some point. But they all appear to be abandoned.”

“Caulfield appeared abandoned too,” Kyle had to point out. Jenna tipped her head in concession.

“There’s one more thing,” Gregory announced. He dropped his stack of files and unfolded a large piece of paper. Once open, he laid it on the table. Hurriedly, everyone grabbed their drinks and phones to clear some space.

Almost as one, they all stood up and leaned over it to look. “What is it?” Maria asked for the group.

Put simply, it was a mess. There were lines crisscrossing it all over the place with vague shapes underneath. Also, there were three large gaps, giant white spaces that broke up the lines.

“It’s a map,” Charlie answered. Everyone looked at her in confusion. She shrugged. “At least that’s what they believed.”

“A map to what?” Rosa scoffed. “It’s just lines.”

Isobel shook her head. “What are you talking about?” She reached out and dragged her finger across one of the lines. After a few inches her finger fell off the line until she was following something only she seemed to see. “It’s-”

“The stars,” Michael finished. He and Max leaned over further to look closely. “It’s an astronomical map.”

“I don’t recognize that star pattern,” Max mused. He turned his head to look at it from a different angle.

“Okay, what are you looking at?” Maria asked. The three aliens looked up at her. “It’s not a map, astronomical or otherwise.” She furrowed her brow. “It’s just a bunch of lines and blobs.”

Michael huffed. “It’s clearly a map.” He pointed at a blob. “This? This is-”

“We can’t see it,” Charlie cut him off. He glared at her but she ignored it. “It was made by some of the prisoners in Caulfield, and they could clearly read it, but humans can’t. Somehow, however they made it, it doesn’t translate in a way that our brains can comprehend. Whatever it is the three of you are seeing, we can’t.” She gestured at the humans in the room.

“What about the blank spots?” Max asked.

Gregory rifled through his folder. “Uh, they said something about…aha!” He pulled a sheet of paper out and read out, “The heirs will lead the way. Without them, hope is lost.”

“Well what does that mean?” Isobel huffed, crossing her arms. “Are we the heirs? Because we see big white spaces in the middle of this map.”

“Map to where?” Alex spoke up. Everyone turned to him but no one answered. “Where were they trying to go?”

“Does it matter?” Max sighed. “We’re missing half of it.”

Alex eyed the map strangely. Kyle watched him as Isobel and Michael started arguing with Max that of course it mattered. Behind them, Maria was pestering Jenna and Charlie as to why she couldn’t read it if she was part alien. On the opposite side of the table, Liz was oddly silent.

Suddenly, while Kyle was distracted by Rosa pulling out her sketch book and pencil, Alex crossed the room and forced himself gently in between the three aliens. The room fell quiet again.

Alex lifted up the edge of the paper and peeked at the back for a moment before flipping it. Rosa cursed as the edge of it came close to her face but she quickly grabbed it and helped Alex get it turned over.

“Alex, what are you doing?” Michael asked even as he too helped get it flat on the table. “What the…”

Kyle stood up again, unsure when he’d sat down. The map carried on to the back almost like it had bled through the paper but it looked different. A few blobs were in different places, a few lines missing or added.

Alex studied it carefully.

“How’d you know this was on the back?” Max asked, half an accusation in his voice.

Alex ignored him. He nudged Michael out of his way as he reached across the table to touch the two smaller white spots. “Liz?” He asked.

Everyone turned to Liz.

“Liz?” Max asked. Liz gave him a small smile before focusing on Alex, a considering look in her eyes. She didn’t move at first, her and Alex communicating silently over the expanse of the table. After a long moment in which the room seemed to hold its breath she leaned over and tapped the spot under Alex’s right hand.

“You’re sure?” Alex asked.

Liz held her hand up and waved it back and forth. “I’d have to check but I’m pretty sure.” She shrugged. “I’m not a cartographer so I could be wrong.” She jerked her chin at him in question. “You?”

Alex straightened up and tapped the large white spot in the middle.

“You’re sure?” Liz asked. There was a teasing lilt to her voice. Alex smirked and nodded. Liz sighed and tapped the third spot. “What about this one?”

“Might have to wait on that.” Alex started to fold it the paper up but Michael and Isobel both reached out and grabbed it.

“Woah what are you doing?” Isobel said.

Michael waved a hand between Alex and Liz. “What was that?”

Alex stared at Michael. “Do you trust me?”

“Are you going to answer my question?”

“Not right now.”

Michael stared at him for a moment but Alex didn’t blink. Finally, Michael let go with a huff. “Fine. Do whatever.”

Isobel looked at him. “Not. Not fine. This is _ours_.”

“And you’ll get it back,” Alex promised, tugging it gently from her hands and folding it up. I just need it for a few days first.” Isobel glared but a sharp look from Michael kept her mouth shut.

“Anything else?” Alex asked Jenna, Gregory, and Charlie. The three of them shook their heads. “Then I’m heading out. Good night!” He slipped out the door before anyone could stop him, the map firmly in hand.

“What the hell was that Liz?” Rosa asked as the door shut behind Alex.

Liz shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.” She looked at her watch. “It’s late.” It was barely 8pm. “I should go.” She leaned up to press a quick kiss to Max’s cheek. “Night guys!” With a wave behind her head, Liz followed Alex out the door.

—

Liz had only been to Alex’s house once since he’d been home but she didn’t have any trouble finding it. The Christmas lights on the tree out front, despite the fact that it was April, definitely helped. She parked next to Alex’s car and hurried to the front door, not bothering to lock the car behind her.

“Alex!” She called, knocking loudly.

“It’s open!” A distant call replied immediately. Liz tried the door and found it unlocked as promised and stepped inside.

“Should I lock it?” She asked.

“Up to you,” Alex replied. “I’m sure they’re right behind you and Michael will get in either way.” Liz left it unlocked.

The light in the dining room called Liz like a moth to a flame. She found Alex hunched over the table, cleared of everything but the map, with a marked stuck between his teeth and pencil in his hand. He had already started sketching in a few lines.

“Alex.”

Alex’s hand stilled. He hesitated, clearly considering his options, before he dropped the pencil and sank back onto a chair with a heavy sigh. He took the marker out of his mouth. “Liz.”

All of a sudden, Liz didn’t know what to say. She pulled out a chair and dropped heavily into it. “ _Alex_.”

The corner of Alex’s mouth quirked upwards. “If you’re not going to ask…”

“Michael’s your soulmate.” It wasn’t the question it maybe should have been. It wasn’t a question at all.

“Yes.” It was said simply. Like there wasn’t a mountain of baggage that came with it. Like Michael hadn’t been dating Maria off and on for months.

What Liz wanted to say was ‘why did you never say anything?’, ‘why was Michael with Maria?’, ‘why aren’t you and Michael together?’, ‘how long have you known?’, ‘were you ever going to admit it?’, but what she said was, “ _Alex_.”

Somehow Alex heard all the unasked questions. “It was easier.”

Liz didn’t understand that.

“Why haven’t you admitted it?” He asked. “It’s not like it’d be a surprise,” he teased gently.

She shrugged. “It never came up.” And it hadn’t. Everything had happened so fast and there had been the revelation of what happened with Rosa ten years ago, and then Max was dead and Rosa was alive, and then she got Max back only for things to get crazy with her dad, and it just never seemed like a good time. Announcing you’d found your soulmate, that you’d met your match, was supposed to be a time of celebration and Liz hadn’t really felt like making a big deal. It deserved to be special, it deserved an _event_ , but there hadn’t been a good time for it.

Alex nodded like he understood.

“When did you know?” She asked quietly.

“First time I came back,” Alex answered. “After basic training, before my first posting. It, uh, it was about six months after graduation?”

“That was ten years ago.”

“It was.”

“How could you- I mean, why didn’t you-?”

Alex shrugged. “It’s complicated.”

Liz accepted that. Up until tonight, the only information she had on Alex’s relationship with Michael had come from Maria so she knew she was missing more than a few key bits of trivia. “You know,” she started after a long silence, “the first time I saw it? And realized what it was? I freaked out.”

“Yeah?” Alex laughed.

Liz nodded with a little laugh of her own. “Yeah,” she agreed. “It was right around when I found out what had happened to Rosa. I, uh, I walked in on him accidentally while he was getting ready for work and I saw it and I just…ran. Went home, drank a lot, and ignored it. Right then, he was the guy who framed my sister for an accident that killed two other girls and he’d covered it up for ten years. I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that he was my soulmate too.”

She could still remember it vividly. Max had come around the corner in just his boxers, not having heard her come in or call his name, and splashed across his thigh was his mark. She was pretty sure she’d seen it once in high school, or at least the part of it that covered the top of his knee, but it hadn’t solidified then. But that day it was clear as could be, a mess of images on a grid background that should have been an amorphous blob to her eyes. That for a moment, she had wished was an amorphous blob. Because a person’s mark was only a solid image to their soulmate, to the rest of the world it was like a bastardized Rorschach test, and in that moment Liz had wanted nothing less than for Max Evans to be her soulmate. So she’d turned on her heel and ran out the door. It was only weeks later that she let herself get up close and personal with it.

Until today, Liz had never seen anything else like it in the world. It vaguely resembled a map but nothing quite like any she’d ever seen. Not until Gregory Manes unfolded an alien map that humans shouldn’t be able to read but Liz saw clear as day. Equally clear was the blank white spot on the side where Max’s mark would fit perfectly. It was the same size, same markings.

Three cars pulled up outside. The engines cut out and the doors slammed shut. Liz counted silently to ten. On six, Alex’s front door swung open.

“Alex!” Michael yelled.

Alex didn’t answer. He and Liz sat silently as the heavy footsteps pounded down the hallway until Michael appeared in the doorway. “What the hell?” Michael greeted.

“Hi,” Alex greeted with a glare.

Michael rolled his eyes. “Yeah, hi. You knew we were coming, you left the door unlocked.” Max and Isobel filed in behind him. “So tell us.”

Max looked to Liz, the question clear in his eyes. Liz looked to Alex, silently ceding the floor to him.

Alex stood up, his back straight and shoulders square. “Liz and I can read the map. And we each have one of the missing pieces.”

“How?” Isobel asked.

“Because they’re yours,” Liz answered. Isobel and Max turned to her in question but Michael hardly glanced her way.

“Alex?”

Alex sighed. “The missing pieces are your marks.” He pointed at the one Liz had identified earlier. “According to Liz, Max’s mark fits this blank space here. And this,” he pointed at the large one in the middle, “is yours, Guerin.”

“What are you talking about?” Isobel asked. “How do you know that? They said humans can’t read it.”

“I guess since we’re your soulmates and can see your marks, we can see the map? And where they fit in?” Liz looked to Alex and Alex shrugged. “Best guess?”

Max and Isobel turned to Alex then Michael. The sudden synchronicity was disconcerting. “What?” They both asked.

Alex arched an eyebrow. “Thought you said they knew?”

Michael shifted under everyone’s gaze. “It’s not like we talked about it but they knew.”

“Clearly they didn’t.”

“You really want to get into who knew and who didn’t?” Michael shot back.

Alex lifted a hand in concession. “Look, the important thing is Liz and I can fill in the missing pieces from yours and Max’s marks but we’ll still have a blank space unless…” he turned to Isobel.

“Don’t look at me, I’m the one in the room _not_ hiding a secret soulmate.”

“I wasn’t hiding anything!” Max immediately protested. “You knew!”

“Yeah but not because you told me!” Isobel yelled back. “I had to figure that one out on my own.”

Liz tuned them out as she focused on Michael and Alex. She still hadn’t quite processed the revelation that they were soulmates, that they’d known for ten years they were soulmates and done nothing with that knowledge. The two men were communicating silently across the table, both leaning in towards each other but neither saying a word. Finally, Michael looked down at the map and traced the few pencil lines that Alex had started sketching in.

“You do this from memory?” He sounded disbelieving.

“You forget what mine looks like?” Alex asked, eyebrow arched.

“No but yours is a lot smaller.” Michael smiled. Alex rolled his eyes.

“Wait,” Liz sat forward. “How big is yours?” She’d never seen it but- “If it’s comparable to Max’s,” she traced the outline of the white space where Max’s mark fit and it was true to size, “how is yours…?”

Michael rolled his eyes and started tugging off his shirt. His undershirt quickly followed, hitting Isobel in the face as he tossed it aside.

“So gross,” she muttered as she flung it away. Liz didn’t hear her though because Michael turned around and showed her his back.

The entire expanse, from the tops of his shoulders down under the waistband of his jeans and curled over both his sides, was mess of mottled black ink. Liz couldn’t make sense of it because there were no spaces, it was like someone had slathered Michael’s whole back in black paint and just smudged the edges.

Liz whistled lowly. She’d never seen one so large. Most were much smaller. Even Max’s, which covered the space from his knee up to his hip, was considered large. Michael’s was huge.

Michael gave her another second to look and then he started to tug on his shirt, the undershirt forgotten on the floor.

“No.” Michael stopped immediately at Alex’s command. Liz looked over to see him with pencil in hand already sketching in more lines. Michael craned his neck to see over his shoulder.

“Really?” He asked. “You want to do this now?”

“Well you’ve already got your shirt off.”

“If you want me to take my shirt off, darlin’, all you gotta do is ask,” Michael leered. Alex shot him an icy look that froze Michael in his track’s. Instantly, his face fell into a frown and he turned to stare at the wall opposite.

Liz cleared her throat. “Do you have another pencil?”

Alex gestured behind him to cup full of writing utensils. Liz scoured through it until she found an already sharpened pencil and then turned back to the silent crowd. “Alright take your pants off.”

“Woah, what?”

“Hold on.”

“I’m out.” Isobel threw her hands up and left the room. “Have fun with your art project!” The door slammed shut behind her.

Michael glared at Max. “Leave the pants on.” Max rolled his eyes at him.

“Where _exactly_ is Max’s mark?” Alex asked hesitantly. Max ran a hand over his thigh. “And how far up does it go?” He turned to Liz.

Liz considered it. “Probably best if we do that at home.” She looked down at the map. “His is smaller-”

“Yeah it is,” Michael interjected.

“Oh my god are you _twelve_?” Alex huffed. Michael smirked.

“As I was saying,” Liz continued, “the space for Max’s mark is a lot smaller so it might be easier if I do his first and then give it back to you to do Michael’s.”

“That would make sense,” Alex agreed slowly, looking down. Still, he hesitated.

“No?”

Alex flipped the pencil over in his hand and tapped the part he’d started sketching. “I’ve already started and Michael’s already here and ready, so why don’t I keep it tonight and work on it a bit and then I’ll bring it to you tomorrow. You can keep it as long as you need and then once you’re done I can finish up.”

Liz checked with Max and shrugged. “That works. After all, there really isn’t a rush, right? Since we don’t have Isobel’s section?”

“That’s true,” Max acknowledged. Michael seemed antsy though. “It doesn’t have to happen tonight.”

“In that case, why don’t you just keep it until you’re done and then pass it along?” Liz suggested.

“That works, too.”

“So are we doing this tonight or what?” Michael huffed. Alex nodded. “Okay then.” He spun around and sat on the edge of the table, back to Alex. “Sketch your heart out.”

“You two do that and let us know when you’re finished.” Max looked to Liz. “We skipped dessert?”

Liz smiled. “Don’t worry, I know a guy who makes great milkshakes.” He smiled back at her. She stood up and looked around for her keys before remembering she’d dropped them on the table in the hallway on her way in. “You two need anything before we go?” Michael and Alex shook their heads.

“Have a good night,” Alex looked up from the map and gave her a small smile that Liz returned.

“Good night, guys.” She squeezed Michael’s bare shoulder in goodbye as she walked by.

“Night!” He called after them.

–

The house was eerily silent once Max and Liz left, the scratches of the pencil on paper the only sounds.

Alex worked steadily for about five minutes before Michael started fidgeting. “Guerin.”

“It’s too quiet.”

Alex pulled out his phone and hit play on his latest playlist, the music flowing a second later. “Now sit still. This needs to be exact.”

Michael was a perfect model for a little over ten minutes. And then he opened his mouth. “You told Liz.”

“Would you prefer I didn’t and left your map incomplete?” Alex shifted to get a better view of the part wrapped around Michael’s left side. 

“You’ve never told anyone.”

Alex shaded in one of the shapes he’d just outlined. Once he thought it might have represented a landmass but now he’s pretty sure it’s a planet. “Neither have you.” They’d never discussed it, not really, but they’d each come to the same conclusion, that their marks were theirs and no one else’s. So no one else needed to know. 

“Well secret’s out now.”

Alex hummed. He couldn’t quite see where the next line ended so he reached out without a thought and gently pulled at Michael’s skin to get a better look. Michael sucked in a breath but didn’t say anything, his back muscles tensing under Alex’s hand. Alex ignored it.

“So who’s gonna tell Maria?” Alex froze, the pencil digging into the paper. 

“What?” He asked, certain he’d misheard Michael.

“I said who’s gonna tell Maria?” Michael looked over his shoulder. “Because I doubt the others are going to come up with some other reason for how we fill in the missing spaces. They know which means everyone is gonna know which means Maria’s going to find out one way or another.”

“She’s your girlfriend,” Alex reminded him coldly. “You should be the one to tell her.”

“She’s your best friend.”

“Eh,” Alex replied. “She’s my friend, yes, but we’re not nearly as close as we used to be. And again, you’re the one dating her. The person responsible for telling her her boyfriend already found his match is her boyfriend.” He poked Michael with the eraser. “That means you.”

Michael sighed. “I don’t want to.”

“I know.”

“This thing with her is easy, that’s why I like it.”

“I know.”

“Bringing soulmates into it complicates things.”

Having _a soulmate didn’t seem to complicate things all that much_ , Alex didn’t say. What he said instead was, “I know,” because he did, because Michael had told him as much every time the subject came up. “You still need to talk to her, though.”

Michael let out a breath and hunched over, his elbows on his knees.

“Guerin,” Alex admonished. “Stop moving.”

But Michael stood up. “I need a drink.”

“You really don’t.”

“I really do.”

He left the room and a moment later Alex heard his cabinet door open and shut. Just the one because Michael knew his way around Alex’s house nearly as well as Alex did.

Alex dropped the pencil onto the table with a clatter and followed. Michael greeted him with a glass of his own which Alex took and quickly drained before placing in the sink. “What’s the problem?”

Michael scoffed. “There’s no problem.”

“Guerin.”

“You told Liz.”

“I didn’t actually but she’s smart enough to figure it out on her own and I didn’t bother wasting my breath correcting her.” Alex drummed his fingers on the counter. “And so what if I did? I can’t tell my friend about my soulmate? I need your permission?”

“I thought we would decide together before telling anyone,” Michael confessed petulantly.

Alex blinked in surprise. “When the hell did we agree to that?” 

“I thought it was obvious.”

“Oh well it wasn’t.” Alex took a deep breath. “I’m sorry we didn’t wait until you got here to discuss it but I won’t apologize for telling her.”

Michael huffed. “Course not.” He drained his glass and placed it next to Alex’s. “Back to the art project.” 

Alex paused a few minutes in the kitchen. Normally, he loved being around Michael, even when they weren’t getting along, even when it hurt, but there was a tension in the air that he didn’t like. He didn’t understand where it was coming from but he knew a powder keg when he saw it and right now they were one.

“Alex!”

When Alex walked back into the dining room it was to find a naked Michael Guerin perched on the edge of his table. Alex stopped and stared, he couldn’t help it. No matter how many times he’d seen it, the view still took his breath away. Part of it was just Michael, absolutely, but part of it was the mark in its entirety. It covered the top of Michael’s ass, enough so that he really couldn’t display it unless he took his pants off, so Alex didn’t always get to see all of it. “I wasn’t doing that part yet.”

Michael smirked. “Well now you can.”

Alex made himself focus on the work for as long as possible but when he had to touch Michael to position him correctly for Alex to see everything, all hope was lost. 

The second his hand grabbed at Michael’s ass, Michael arched his back and pressed into it. 

“Guerin,” he warned. Or tried to.

Michael smirked. “You’re the one with your hand on my ass, darlin’.” Alex quickly removed his hand. Michael rolled his eyes and stood up, turning around to face Alex. Alex dropped his eyes low before forcing them up to Michael’s face. That damnable smirk was firmly in place.

“You have a girlfriend.”

Michael shrugged. “Only technically. We’ve barely talked in weeks, haven’t had sex in like two months. It’s done with we just haven’t actually said it yet.” He rounded the table. “Besides. You’re my soulmate.”

He stepped in close. Alex didn’t move away. “You were pissed at me a few minutes ago.”

“I’m still a little pissed,” Michael admitted. “So what?”

Alex pressed a hand into the center of his chest and pushed Michael back a step. “We’re not having sex.”

Michael arched an eyebrow, a slow smile spreading across his lips. “No?”

“We’re working on your map,” Alex reminded him. “That’s it.”

“Alex,” Michael groaned. He grabbed onto where Alex was still pressing against his chest with one hand and looped a finger through Alex’s belt loop with the other. One sharp tug and they were pressed flush against each other. 

Their lips brushed against each other in a whisper of a kiss before Alex pulled away. “If you don’t want to work on the map then we should call it a night.”

Michael looked upset. “So that’s it, huh?”

“What’s it?”

“We can tell people we’re soulmates but we can’t act like it?”

Alex stared at him. “Don’t.” His voice was hard. “You were the one who wanted nothing to do with me. You were the one who decided to date someone else. You were the one who said we shouldn’t be together. You don’t get to get angry at me for following your lead.”

Michael stared at him, his shoulders rigid with tension, before giving a sharp nod. “Fine. Right. My lead.” He stalked around the table, his clothes flying up from the floor to meet his hands mid-stride. Alex watched him tug on his boxers and jeans, his movements jerky.

“Michael,” he sighed. 

“We can do the map another time,” Michael replied without looking at him. “Like they said, without Isobel’s soulmate there’s really no rush.” He shoved his feet into his boots. Michael grabbed his hat and plopped it on his head. “Good night, Alex.” His shirt was still in his hands when he disappeared down the hallway.

Alex groaned softly in the empty room. The front door opened. “Guerin!” The front door closed. Alex stepped into the hallway. It was dark but the lights from outside framed Michael’s hunched form well enough for Alex to see. “I’m going to bed.”

“It’s early,” Michael replied in surprise.

“It is,” Alex agreed. “Might have to lay there for a bit. Could get boring.”

Michael half turned back towards him. “Sounds like you could use some company.”

Alex hummed. “Probably could.” He turned and headed for his bedroom. “Lock the door and turn the lights off.” By the time Alex reached his room, Michael was right behind him. “No sex.”

“What?”

Alex took his pants off and sat on the edge of the bed to remove his prosthetic. “No sex.”

Michael hesitated in the doorway. “Fine.”

“Fine.” He set his prosthetic aside. “Take your pants off.”

“You _just_ said-”

“I want to see it,” Alex rolled his eyes. He slid under the covers, his own clothes littering the floor to be picked up later. Michael helpfully shed the clothes he’d just put on and got in on the other side of the bed. 

Alex gave him a moment to get comfortable on his stomach before he shoved the covers down far enough that they only covered their legs and shifted onto his side. Carefully, he reached over and started tracing the lines of Michael’s mark. Michael shivered under the light touch but made no move to stop him.

Slowly, Alex made his way down Michael’s back, making sure to touch each line, every shape. When his finger had mapped the expanse, he leaned over and started again, this time with his lips. It was an old habit, one he’d started the very first time he’d seen it, and it never failed to relax them both. 

He knew every inch of Michael’s back. He knew it in his fingertips and in his lips. Every single marking was etched into memory, he’d hardly needed Michael to model it for him earlier. 

When he was finished, he stayed slumped over Michael’s back, his lips pressed to the planet at the base of Michael’s neck. In response, Michael, now a mostly boneless lump beneath him, turned his face to the side and craned his neck to reach Alex’s arm. In this position, he could just reach the mark nestled in the crook of Alex’s left arm. His mark was substantially smaller than Michael’s; a tiny, detailed planet with a sky full of stars behind it. When it first appeared, Michael had tried searching for the planet in the sky by using the stars as a guide but they didn’t match up with any known pattern. Alex had long accepted that it wasn’t anything specific, more an idea.

“Why isn’t it easy?” Michael asked quietly. “It’s supposed to be easy, right? Find your soulmate, live happily ever after. That’s how the stories go.”

“We’re not a story.” Alex traced the cluster of planets nestled over Michael’s hip. “We’re real, Michael. And if we want this to mean something, to be worth something, we have to work at it.”

Michael didn’t say anything for a long while. “Nothing worth having ever came easy.”

“No. It didn’t,” Alex agreed. He pressed a lingering kiss to the nape of Michael’s neck and rolled off of him. “Guess we need to decide if we’re worth it.”

Michael kissed Alex’s mark. “We are.”


End file.
